


The Apple of His Eye

by AelinElentiya



Series: Harry Potter [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 16:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6201883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AelinElentiya/pseuds/AelinElentiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The love a father has for his child is an undying, unconditional love, and nothing can come between it. <br/>A look at Astoria’s pregnancy, through Draco’s eyes, and Scorpius Malfoy’s life and the lessons learned from it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Apple of His Eye

**Author's Note:**

> “The Apple of His Eye” is a fic that I wrote ages ago, but I’m in the process of moving my one-shots from HPFF to here, and this is one I really was proud of. The POV alternates between Astoria + Draco from the moment Astoria learns she’s pregnant throghout major times in Scorpius’ life. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!   
> Xoxo   
> Crysta
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr at aelinelentiya.tumblr.com

The Apple of His Eye   
by AelinElentiya 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Father and Son

 

 

As a child, he had always loved green apples. As a grown man, he could barely stand to look at them. They were a reminder of his childhood, and he hated them. He still loved apples, but he refused to eat the green ones.  
It was strange, that apples would be such a painful reminder for Draco. Especially since he had loved them so dearly. He remembered how Dobby would set aside a basket of green apples from the orchard and sneak them up to his room, just for him. He remembered how he would sneak down to the kitchens, and Dobby always greeted him with those green apples and the most delicious hot chocolate. And they would talk for hours, over apples and hot chocolate. He spent those first several visits apologizing endlessly, and once, he had even tried to hire Dobby back. That was a mistake. The house elf Winky started going on and on about how improper it was, how once a house elf was freed they could never go back to his previous master. Draco felt bad for the poor elf. If Winky hadn’t gotten used to Hogwarts by the time he graduated, he probably would’ve asked her to come work for him. Even still, whenever he visited Hogwarts for the Memorial, he always came to visit Winky.  
Draco had a fondness for House Elves, though Astoria was the only person who knew exactly how much he liked the odd creatures. He had two of his own, but they weren’t treated as servants. Rather, they were treated as friends. Of course, they insisted on doing chores around the house, but mostly they were there to keep Astoria company when he was working late hours at the office. And though they could both cook, his elves—Rhonda and Castor—insisted on making dinner for them each night.  
When Astoria announced she was pregnant, it was Rhonda she told first. He remembered the shock of seeing Rhonda appear in his office as he was reviewing his latest case, and he had rushed home instantly, where he had found Astoria in their bedroom, curled up on the bed with the pregnancy test in her hands. The word “positive” seemed to jump out at him. He hadn’t passed out. He hadn’t even really reacted at all. All that he was able to do was stare at Astoria like she had three heads. According to her, his expression was “priceless”.  
It doesn’t hit him right away, that Astoria is carrying a child. His child. Thinking about him filled him with an overwhelming sort of joy, and yet there was a bit of fear there, too. How was he supposed to be a father? What sort of example did he have? His father certainly wasn’t father of the year. From the age of nine, Lucius had taught him that compassion was a weakness, that love was a weakness. If Lucius had ever shown him love, he didn’t remember it. The only person that had ever shown him love was his mother, but she was so careful.  
“You’ll be a wonderful father,” Astoria assures him as he tells her his fears. “I know you will be. You’ll see.”   
He doesn’t believe her. Not really. And then she starts to show, and when he comes along to her appointment with the doctor, he stares at the screen and the tiny shape that is supposed to be his child. Their child.  
“It looks like an apple!” He blurts out.  
Astoria stares at him, bewildered. “No, it doesn’t,” she says, fighting her laughter.  
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘apple of my eye’?” The doctor asks, and they both shake their heads. “Well, it’s clear this little one’s already got Daddy wrapped around their finger. Apple of my eye, indeed.”  
The doctor is right. From that moment, Draco is obsessed with the baby. He worries constantly about Astoria, especially when the morning sickness starts. He doesn’t know why it’s called “morning sickness”, because it goes on throughout the day. She barely eats, and the faintest scent can send her running to the bathroom. She may as well live in the bathroom, he thinks. She hardly ever leaves it.  
A package comes in the mail, a small bottle of ginger and a note. Mix with food. It will help. –Hermione Weasley  
He is shocked to receive a package from Hermione, until he learns Astoria ran into her the other day during her trip to Diagon Alley to visit the bookstore. Hermione, he knows from the papers, is pregnant as well. Apparently the women were discussing morning sickness, and she had mentioned the ginger.  
So he tries it. And Astoria begins eating again. He breathes a sigh of relief and sends a gift certificate from Flourish and Blotts to Hermione as a thank you. After that, they meet for tea on an almost-weekly basis, to complain about being pregnant and overbearing husbands, as Astoria says.  
He doesn’t complain. She looks so much healthier now that she’s eating again, and the “morning” sickness is less frequent now, triggering only when she eats or smells something that her stomach doesn’t agree with. She especially likes muggle fast food, which she discovered thanks to Hermione.  
One evening, just as he’s about to leave work, Astoria sends him a fire-message and asks him to pick up some food on the way home. It’s ten thirty at night, and he wonders why anyone would want to eat such food at such an hour, but he doesn’t argue, and he walks into the muggle restaurant.  
“Two soft taco Supremes, extra cheese, no lettuce. And two bags of those cinnamon twists,” he says. “Oh, and a medium Mountain Dew, please.”  
“That order sounds familiar,” says the cashier. “You don’t got a pregnant wife or something, do you? Dark hair, about medium height, very pretty?”  
He smiles a little. “Yeah. That’s my wife,” he says. “She’s addicted to your food right now. I don’t complain. I’m supposed to pick up some peanut buster parfait thing next. Apparently the baby’s hungry. If I didn’t know better, I think there were three kids in there, not one.”  
The cashier laughs, and hands him the food. “Well, you never know,” he says. “Good luck to you, mate.”  
Draco thanks him, and then leaves the restaurant. He heads to the ice cream place for dessert next, and makes sure that the parfait comes with the butterscotch syrup, because Astoria insists. After that, he finally makes his way home, and finds Astoria sitting on the couch, a pot in front of her and several cans of diet soda. She is watching something on the muggle telly, which they got because she started watching it at Hermione’s and then insisted on having one of her own. He was shocked that it actually works, what with all the magic around them. It shuts off if they use magic, though.  
“Thank you,” Astoria says, grabbing the food from him. She starts on the ice cream first, and she looks kid on Christmas morning.  
“Hungry, are you?” He says, smiling. “Apple, stop eating so much.”  
Astoria gives him a look. “I told you not to keep calling him that,” she says. “His name is Regulus.”  
“I’m not naming him Regulus,” he says, shaking his head. “And we don’t know it’s a boy or not.”  
“I like Regulus,” she says, pouting. “And it’s a family name. What, you don’t want to call him Sirius, do you? Because I hear he was rather smashing when he was younger, if you know what I mean. Sirius is a nice name.”  
He decides, rather wisely, to ignore the ‘smashing’ comment. “I’m not calling him Sirius, either,” he says. “It won’t be a family name. I refuse to follow the same traditions that the rest of my family has.”  
“What if it’s a girl?” She asks, her mouth full of ice cream. “We can call her Lyra. Ooh, no. Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy, and Regulus Hyperion Malfoy.”  
“For the last time, we are not naming him Regulus. You can call him Hyperion, if you want to, but we’re not using Regulus. You can name the dog Regulus for all I care, but we are not naming our son that,” he says. “But I do like Lyra. Cassiopeia’s a bit of a mouthful, but we can just call her Cassie for short.”  
“But Cassie and Reggie sound so cute,” she says, pouting. “Come on, Draco. What if it’s twins? It would be perfect.”  
“No,” he says.  
She sighs. “You’re so stubborn,” she says, and unwraps one of her tacos. “I’ll convince you eventually. Regulus Hyperion is so cute.”  
He shakes his head, but says nothing. He knows that if he continues to argue, he’ll say something he’ll regret. So he keeps his mouth shut, and watches the television.

 

~*~

 

“What do you think of Regulus for a boy, Hermione?” Astoria asks at her baby shower, several months later. She is seven and a half months pregnant now, and her belly swells under her dress, but she is still as beautiful as ever. She invited Hermione to her baby shower, and although the muggleborn seemed a bit uncomfortable with the high-classed purebloods at first, she seems to have relaxed.  
“I think it’s a nice name,” she says. “Regulus was really brave, I think.”  
Draco, who has been allowed to ‘observe’ the shower, snorts in the corner. Astoria has not dropped the name Regulus in the last six months. He keeps telling her that he’d rather call the baby Apple—which, frankly, never seems to scare her enough to give up, because she just walks away in a huff. He has spent hours reading baby name books to find another name, anything but Regulus, but she keeps going back to it. He’s almost given up, and just started praying that the baby’s a girl.  
“I like Scorpius,” says Pansy, who has just recently married Theodore Nott and is currently holding six-month-old baby Aislinn, who was Astoria’s cousin Veronica’s second daughter. “Scorpius is cute.”  
“Scorpius sounds nice,” Hermione agrees. Both women look surprised that they agreed on something, and Pansy gives a small smile. “Do you have anything in mind for a middle name?”  
“I was thinking Hyperion,” Astoria says. “It’s weird, I know, but I like it. And if we have a girl, I really like Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy. And I also like Lyra, but I don’t think Narcissa fits with it.”  
“I like Cassiopeia. It’s a bit of a mouthful, though,” Daphne puts in. “And Cassie and Reggie would sound adorable together.”  
“That’s what I said!” Astoria says, laughing. “But Draco disagrees. He doesn’t like Regulus.”  
They all turn to look at him. “Why not?” Pansy demands. “What’s wrong with Regulus? I think it’s nice.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Draco says. “I just… it’s too traditional. I don’t want to use a name that follows with the same traditions my family has followed for years. I want to use something different.”  
“That makes sense,” says Nora Zabini, his best friend Blaise’s wife, speaking for the first time. She is a very quiet person, Nora, and being a squib, she looks uncomfortable in a room full of people who are capable of magic. He was shocked when Blaise married her, but there’s no denying the two love each other. Nora had been hesitant, not really wanting to tie herself to a pureblood family that, though they weren’t as well known as some of them, was obviously powerful. It was Draco who finally convinced her that she should give Blaise a chance.  
“But I like Regulus,” Astoria says, but it sounds almost like she’s given up. “Scorpius Hyperion doesn’t sound too bad, though. What names are you and Ron thinking of, Hermione?”  
“Well… I like Hugo for a boy,” Hermione says hesitantly. “And Ron keeps calling the baby ‘rosebud’, because apparently that’s what it looked like to him.”  
“Well. Rosebud’s better than Apple,” Astoria says. “As Draco’s been calling it for the last seven months.”  
Pansy snickered. “Apple. Really, Draco? That obsession with those green apples of yours never really did go away, did it?” She asks, and shakes her head.  
“Actually, that’s not why I call it Apple,” he says. Pansy doesn’t know that he can’t stand those green apples anymore, so he can forgive her for mentioning it. “There’s a phrase ‘apple of my eye’, which I heard the first time I went to the doctor with Astoria, so it just sort of clicked and I started calling it Apple. It has nothing to do with actual apples themselves.  
“Aw,” they chorus and Draco nearly rolled his eyes. Women. He had lived with them his entire life but he’d still never understand them.  
“That’s a muggle phrase,” says Hermione. “It means something that you cherish above all others.”  
They ‘awed’ again, and Draco found himself smiling. The house elves bring in the cake, and Astoria opens her gifts. Then the others go home, after hugging and promising to meet up again soon, and it is just the two of them again.  
“I like Scorpius,” he tells Astoria, as they help the House Elves bring the gifts to the nursery upstairs. They have painted the nursery bright green, which Astoria says can be for either boy or girl, and the furniture is all neutral colours.  
She sighs. “You’re never going to like Regulus, are you? Why are you so stubborn?” She doesn’t say it like a question, though, more like a statement. And she’s smiling, so he knows she doesn’t really mind his stubbornness.  
“I don’t want to name my baby after someone,” he says. “Especially not someone who was personally killed by Voldemort himself. He’s my uncle, and yes, what he did was very brave. But I don’t want my child to be named after anyone. I don’t want him to feel like he has a lot to live up to, like he’s living in someone else’s shadow. I want him to be his own person. I don’t want him to feel like he’s expected to be a certain person because he was named after them.”  
Astoria is quiet for a moment, watching him. “I suppose I didn’t think of it like that,” she says at last. “Okay. We’ll name the dog Regulus.”  
“We don’t have a dog,” he feels compelled to point it out, even though he was the one who suggested it all those months ago.  
She smiles mischievously at him. “We’ll get one,” she says. “But I’m not ready for a dog yet. Let’s raise the baby first.”  
Draco laughs, and agrees. He can live with that.

 

~*~

 

And when little Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy is born, one month and five days after Rose Nymphadora Weasley, he is perfect. He looks exactly like his father, except that his hair is a little darker and he’s not as pale, and he has his mother’s small nose. Draco loves that nose.  
He is indeed the apple of his eye. Draco holds Scorpius in his arms, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, long after he has fallen asleep, staring at the beautiful baby that is his. He just stares at him, noticing how his eyelashes flutter and his little lip sucks in, and how beautiful he is. Astoria does not tell him this for a long time, but she got Rhonda to take a muggle photograph of them. It is the only photo in their house that doesn’t move. She wanted to capture the moment forever, and it does. It captures the peacefulness of Draco’s face as he watches his son. Such a simple photo, yet so moving, because you can clearly see how much Draco loves his son already.  
He still calls him apple. Scorpius does not know why, not until Rose Weasley tells him so, after hearing it from her mother. He is the apple of his father’s eye.  
Scorpius, Astoria knows, hates green apples. When he was two, she tried to get him to eat one. But he refused, and when she asked him why he didn’t want to, he said:  
“Gween apples make Daddy upset. Daddy no eats. I no eat.”  
She had no idea how he knew that, because she had not known it herself, but she supposed it was because Scorpius noticed things about his father that she didn’t. It warms her heart that Scorpius knows these things about his father, that he knows him well enough to notice them.  
“What if I’m not in Slytherin?” Scorpius asks his father on Platform 9 ¾, as he prepares to board the Hogwarts Express for the first time. “Everyone in our family has been in Slytherin. What if I’m not?”  
“It doesn’t matter,” Draco says. “Whatever house your in, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to follow tradition, Scorp. Just because the rest of the family’s in Slytherin doesn’t mean you have to be. And you know what? Not all of the family was in Slytherin. Your uncle Sirius wasn’t. He was in Gryffindor.”  
“Really?” Scorpius asks, curiously.  
Draco nods. “Yes,” he says. “So, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Slytherin or not. You are your own person, Scorp. You don’t have to follow the traditions.”  
Scorpius looks relieved. Draco doesn’t mention that Sirius was treated badly for being a Gryffindor, and disowned for running away. Scorpius doesn’t need to know that. And being told that he had an uncle who was in Gryffindor obviously made him feel better, because he doesn’t look so nervous anymore.  
She watches Scorpius get on the train with a smile, though he takes a piece of her heart with her. She misses him already.

 

The next morning, Scorpius sends a letter.

I GOT GRYFFINDOR! He writes, and she can almost feel his excitement. Rose Weasley’s in Ravenclaw, and Albus Potter’s in Slytherin, Dad. He was really upset, and his brother James went over to sit with him. People were really shocked, Dad. Like they thought he was being a traitor or something. I don’t know why. I thought House Unity was accepted at Hogwarts? Anyways, I have to go now. Victoire Weasley is going to take us to our classes.

Love you,

 

Scorpius.

P.S. I forgot to pack my color-changing ink, and my chocolate frog trading cards, and my wizard’s chess. Can you send them? Thanks. Love you.  
Astoria laughs quietly, and when she shows the letter to Draco, he just looks at it. “Are you disappointed?” She asks him.  
“No,” he says. “Of course I’m not disappointed. I’m proud of him. He’ll be everything I wasn’t. He’s going to make all the right choices.”  
“You didn’t make all the wrong choices,” she says quietly. “You’re not the same person that you were when you were seventeen, Draco. You’re a better person because of it. You’re a good person, Draco. You did what you had to in order to protect your family. Maybe you made a mistake, but we all made mistakes at seventeen. You’re a good person, Draco, and you’ve made up for the things you did in your past.”  
“I suppose you’re right,” he sighs. “I just hope my son doesn’t get ridiculed because of me.”  
She smiles. They write back to Scorpius, telling him that they’ll send the things he forgot, and that they love him and they’re so, so proud of him.   
Scorpius writes home every day for the first two weeks. He says that he misses being at home, but that he’s having lots of fun, and he loves transfiguration, even though McGonagall terrifies him, and that Professor Longbottom is his favorite teacher. He says he’s made friends with Aidan Finnegan and Zoë Macmillan. Zoë is in Hufflepuff, while Aidan is in Gryffindor.   
It seems like it passes in the blink of an eye, that first year. She never stops missing Scorpius when he is away from home, and she makes the most of it when he’s home. Draco warns her not to spoil him too much, but she doesn’t care. She misses her son dearly, though it does get better as the years go on.

~*~

 

Late in November of Scorpius’ sixth year, he tells them that he will be bringing a “beautiful, smart, amazing” girl home for Christmas. She doesn’t tell Draco that she suspects that she knows who this girl is, and Draco suspects that she knows something he doesn’t, and keeps pestering her. She tells him the truth: that she knows as much as he does.  
Still, she is unsurprised when Scorpius introduces Rose Weasley, who blushes and stammers that their home is beautiful and that is “so nice” to meet them. She eases the girl’s nerves quickly, and Rose is soon comfortable. She is a wonderful young woman, and reminds her of her mother.   
In the kitchen after dinner, Rose helps Astoria clear away the dishes, and she voices her fears.   
“I didn’t think you would approve,” she says. “Scorpius and I have been dating since September. He wanted me to meet you, but I was scared. I was scared you wouldn’t like me, that I wouldn’t be good enough. But mostly I was just scared of what people would say, when they found out about us. We’re from very different families, and very different social backgrounds. And my parents… well, I know my Mum just wants me to be happy. But my father… well, he’s not exactly Scorpius’ biggest fan. And I want my father to approve more than anything. I’m just worried that he’ll be mad at me. Sorry. I’m rambling, aren’t I?” She gives a sheepish smile, and Astoria smiles back.  
“Rose, honey. It’s OK,” she says. “It’s OK to be worried, even scared. Meeting your boyfriend’s family is a big deal. I know how you feel. When I first met Draco’s parents, I thought I would pass out from nerves. But I didn’t. I was so afraid that they would hate me that I wasn’t thinking about the important things. The things that mattered. The important thing is that we love each other. It didn’t matter if the rest of his family approved or not. It wasn’t make-it or break-it, but I did want them to approve. And they did. I’m only going to ask you one thing: Are you sure about this?”  
“Yes,” Rose says almost automatically. “We’re young. I’m not sure what the future holds for us. But I love him, and I want to be with him.”   
“That’s all I ask,” she says. “But there was never any question of me approving and accepting you, Rosebud. It’s Draco’s acceptance that Scorpius wants.”  
“Rosebud?” Rose looks shocked. “That’s what my Dad calls me.”  
Astoria smiles. “I know. Your mother told me, at my baby shower for Scorpius,” she says.  
“Really? My Mum told me once that Draco called Scorpius ‘apple’ when you were pregnant with him. Because of the phrase ‘the apple of my eye’,” Rose says. “Is that true?”  
She nods. “It’s true. And to this day, he is still the apple of his father’s eye,” she says. “I still remember Scorpius refusing to eat green apples because Daddy didn’t like them.”  
Rose laughs. “He still won’t eat them,” she says.  
Astoria laughs too, shaking her head. They finish in the kitchen, and head back to the living room with dessert. After Rose goes home, Draco and Scorpius go up to Draco’s study to talk. She tries not to eavesdrop, but she can’t help it.  
“Do you approve?” Scorpius asks his father. “Of Rose, I mean?” His voice is hesitant, like he’s almost afraid of the answer.  
“She’s a lovely girl,” Draco says. “I want you to be happy, Scorpius. Rose makes you happy.”  
“Yes,” Scorpius says. “But that’s not an answer, Dad.”  
Draco chuckles. “You don’t really need my approval. It doesn’t matter if I approve of her or not. You’ll still love her,” he says.  
“Are you saying you don’t approve of her? I don’t appreciate the riddles, Dad,” Scorpius says, and he sounds annoyed, but she can almost hear him smile.  
“I approve of her,” he says. “She makes you happy. How can I ever not approve of something that makes you happy, Scorpius? That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, you know. For you to be happy.”  
“I know,” he says, and this time, Astoria knows he’s smiling. “Apple of my eye. I remember.”  
“You’ve always been my apple,” Draco says. “Nothing will change that. You know that I’ll stand by you no matter what you do. As long as it makes you happy. I know you brought Rose here tonight because you wanted my approval, but Scorpius, you had it the moment you told me you were bringing home a girl, and that she made you happy. I didn’t care who she was. The only thing I will ever look for when you bring a girl home is if she makes you happy or not. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”  
“Thanks, Dad,” Scorpius says quietly. “I think I’m going to bed now. Is it OK if I go over to the Burrow for dinner tomorrow?”  
“Of course,” he says. “Your mother and I will stop in. I know Ronald will be wanting to have a talk with me.” She can almost see Draco rolling his eyes, and Scorpius laughs.  
“I’m a bit scared. Meeting Rose’s family,” he admits. “They’re pretty intimidating. I’ve met most of her cousins and her brother, but… I don’t know if I’m ready to meet her Dad. I’m scared he’s going to hate me. Because I’m a Malfoy.”  
“They saved my life, you know,” Draco says quietly. Astoria knows immediately what he’s talking about, though he hardly ever mentions it. He likes to pretend that it didn’t happen. “Her parents and Harry. You and I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for them.”  
“I know,” he says. “But I’m still scared.”  
Astoria yearns to put her arms around her son and take away the fear, but she knows that he has no reason to be afraid. “All father’s dislike their daughter’s boyfriends,” Draco says wisely. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s just an instinct. But you have no reason to worry, Scorpius. Your mother and I raised you right. He’ll approve.”  
Astoria smiles, and tiptoes away from the conversation. She has heard enough, and besides, it is rude to eavesdrop, even if she wants to. In the safety of their bedroom, she takes out Scorpius’ baby album, crawls into bed, and begins to flip through it.  
How could it have been so many years ago that she saw his face for the first time? How did time fly so quickly, when yesterday Scorpius was learning to sit up, and now he’s brought home a girl for the first time?  
Sixteen. Her son, her baby angel, is sixteen years old, and the spitting image of his father. It seems like it was only yesterday that she meeting him for the first time, that Draco sat in the rocking chair just watching his son. So many memories. And yet, it seems like no time has passed at all.  
She doesn’t worry about tomorrow, though. She knows that Scorpius will be fine. His father’s assurances were exactly what he needed to chase away the fear that his girlfriend’s parents will not approve of him.

~*~

 

Fast forward four years later, and she’s watching Rose walk down the aisle on her father’s arm. Ronald is the proud father. He kisses her cheek as he lifts the veil, and gives Scorpius a warning look, which makes him pale, but she knows that Ron means well. He has grown to love her son. And beside her, Draco watches their son with the same look of pride and adoration that he had all those years ago  
Apple of his father’s eye, indeed.


End file.
